Asia has 60 percent of the world's population. Southeast Asia's 560 million people are equivalent to the population of Latin America. When moving, usually there are many different factors and reasons why a person would move or migrate. Of course, most people leave a place in order to find better opportunities for themselves and to improve their life quality. However, there are also a great number of refugees who seek out new countries to live in also. Due to all of these migrations, some countries have a very large work force. For example, the richest country in Southeast Asia is Singapore, which has the highest share of migrants having a third of their workers as foreigners. Another country that has a strong labour work force made of foreigners is Malaysia. Malaysia has two million migrants in a labour force of 10 million, with Indonesians dominating among construction and plantation workers. The government can't really control illegal migration and employment well within Malaysia, so they have periodic sweeps that sends tens of thousands of Indonesians home. Finally, Thailand is Southeast Asia's third largest migrant destination, with about two million foreign workers. Thailand has also attempted to develop a longer-term policy for managing migrants, but this system is faulty. Employers can hire legal migrants if they pay registration fees equivalent to a month's salary, but since enforcement of this is so weak, employers and migrants just decide to avoid this system, allowing more illegal immigrants to work. Overall, the biggest factor of migration seems to be work in Southeast Asia.
Australia
Australia is another popular destination for migrants in the South Pacific. Since early 1945, there were 7 million people that came to Australia as new settlers. However, over a period of just 64 years, nearly 6.8 million migrants arrive, and the population of Australia rose from 7 million to over 21.5 million. Surprisingly, more than 700,000 people arrived under humanitarian programs and acted as refugees. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, "About one million migrants arrived in each of the six decades following 1950." Right now, nearly one in four of Australia's people were born overseas.
So, why Australia? There are many factors that make Australia an ideal place for immigrants. These qualities are: a strong economy, good quality of life, stable government, telecommunications and information systems and infrastructure, and a highly skilled workforce. First of all, the economy. The unemployment rate is currently only 5%, according to statistics in May 2009. Compared to the 22% in South Africa, 9% in France and China, and the 8% in the US and Canada, this is great news for migrants. Australia's economy is also so stable that it was selected as the number one place to live on the 2008 Country Brand Index. This helps most migrants feel secure about moving to Australia. Surprisingly though, not only the economy is ranked number one but the quality of life was ranked number one in Melbourne city. The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Melbourne as the number one most liveable city in the world. This is also good news to migrants and even refugees who are trying to escape to a better living place. Next is government stability. According to "Why Australia", "The Australian political environment is ranked as one of the most stable in the world, ranked behind Finland and Luxemburg, and first in the region." So far, Australia has continuously been ranked as one of the best regions for economy, quality of life, and a stable government. Just these three factors are more than enough to reassure most migrants on where to move to. Not only is the political environment stable though, but Australia's competition laws are also ranked as second best in the world. This is a perfect example of a nice and stable political environment. Now, the fourth factor: telecommunications and information systems and infrastructure. "Australia's telecommunications and IT market has become one of the biggest in Asia and tenth largest in the world." ("Why Australia") This creates a great economy, as the market is doing well and booming in Australia. Finally, the last factor is a highly skilled workforce. Australia is again ranked in the top ten countries in the world for availability of skilled labour, IT professionals, finance skills, and qualified engineers. This creates many job opportunities for migrants who are seeking work in foreign countries. Just these five factors should be enough to bring in a constant flow of migrants.
Now that we've talked about the pull factors, what are the pull factors? In other words, what caused the migrants to leave their original home? Most people leave their homes looking for opportunities to enhance their quality of life. If their homeland has economic problems or bad living conditions, people will want to leave in order to look for anything better. This explains most of the push factors for refugees who are possibly seeking areas where wars aren't being fought, to escape to a better place. However, most migrants seem to be moving due to work. Cheap labour has become popular, since the workers work for less money. This is good for companies, but not good for the original inhabitants of the nation. Most people leave for countries that have a lot of job opportunities, such as Australia. If they can secure a steady job, then they can definitely improve their quality of life, and secure their own economic struggles. Therefore, although all factors listed above are important, the most important push factor seems to be work.
Statistics of Australia
Settler arrival figures
Settler Arrival Numbers
Net Permanent migration
1998-1999
84 100
49 000
1999-2000
92 300
51 200
2000-2001
107 400
60 800
2001-2002
88 900
40 700
2002-2003
93 900
43 500
2003-2004
111 600
52 500
2004-2005
123 400
60 800
2005-2006
131 600
63 700
2006-2007
140 100
68 000
2007-2008
149 400
72 400
2008-2009
158 021
77 000
Source: overseas arrivals and departures
Settler arrivals by region of birth between July 2008 and June 2009
Arrivals
% Variation
Oceania and Antarctica
30 010
-5.3%
Europe
29 294
-4.6%
North Africa and the Middle East
11 143
34.3%
South East Asia
21 008
-0.9%
North East Asia
20 977
16.5%
Southern Asia
25 900
17.2%
Central Asia
1 731
-3.8%
Northern America
2 254
2.5%
South and Central America & the Caribbean
1 979
-5.8%
Sub-Saharan Africa
13 025
22.9%
Supplementary Country Codes
671
11.8%
Not Stated/Not Elsewhere Included
29
-71.0%
Grand Total
158 021
5.8%
Major source countries
July 2008 to June 2009 settler arrivals, by country of birth
Arrivals
% Variation
New Zealand
33 034
19.7%
United Kingdom
21 567
-7.0%
India
16 909
10.3%
China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)
14 935
14.9%
Philippines
5 619
2.9%
Iraq
4 008
79.9%
Sri Lanka
3 918
11.3%
Malaysia
3 261
11.9%
Burma (Myanmar)
2 931
17.1%
By way of comparison: Settler arrivals by region of birth for 1998-99
Arrivals
% of Total
Oceania
22 501
26.74%
Europe
18 710
22.24%
The Former USSR and the Baltic States
898
1.07%
The Middle East and Nth Africa
5 195
6.17%
South East Asia
10 934
12.99%
North East Asia
10 869
12.92%
Southern Asia
5 316
6.32%
Northern America
1 624
1.93%
South America, Central America & the Carribean
773
0.92%
Africa excl Nth Africa
7 246
8.61%
Supplementary – Country Codes
77
0.09%
Grand Total
84 143
Works Cited:
"Australian Immigration Fact Sheet 2. Key Facts in Immigration." Department of Immigration & Citizenship. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009. <http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/02key.htm#e>.
"Immigration to Australia | Why Australia | Australia, World, Ranked, Quality, Most." Immigration to Australia | Australian VIsa, Visa To Australia, Migrate To Australia | Advice, Assessment, Visa, Written, Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009. <http://www.myaustralianvisa.com/General/Australia/Why-Australia-2.php>. Martin, Philip. "Managing Labor Migration in Southeast Asia." Managing Labor Migration in Southeast Asia. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2009. <www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/download/yr2006/martin_migration.pdf>.
BACK
♦
Southeast Asia and the South Pacific in General
Asia has 60 percent of the world's population. Southeast Asia's 560 million people are equivalent to the population of Latin America. When moving, usually there are many different factors and reasons why a person would move or migrate. Of course, most people leave a place in order to find better opportunities for themselves and to improve their life quality. However, there are also a great number of refugees who seek out new countries to live in also. Due to all of these migrations, some countries have a very large work force. For example, the richest country in Southeast Asia is Singapore, which has the highest share of migrants having a third of their workers as foreigners. Another country that has a strong labour work force made of foreigners is Malaysia. Malaysia has two million migrants in a labour force of 10 million, with Indonesians dominating among construction and plantation workers. The government can't really control illegal migration and employment well within Malaysia, so they have periodic sweeps that sends tens of thousands of Indonesians home. Finally, Thailand is Southeast Asia's third largest migrant destination, with about two million foreign workers. Thailand has also attempted to develop a longer-term policy for managing migrants, but this system is faulty. Employers can hire legal migrants if they pay registration fees equivalent to a month's salary, but since enforcement of this is so weak, employers and migrants just decide to avoid this system, allowing more illegal immigrants to work. Overall, the biggest factor of migration seems to be work in Southeast Asia.Australia
Australia is another popular destination for migrants in the South Pacific. Since early 1945, there were 7 million people that came to Australia as new settlers. However, over a period of just 64 years, nearly 6.8 million migrants arrive, and the population of Australia rose from 7 million to over 21.5 million. Surprisingly, more than 700,000 people arrived under humanitarian programs and acted as refugees. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, "About one million migrants arrived in each of the six decades following 1950." Right now, nearly one in four of Australia's people were born overseas.So, why Australia? There are many factors that make Australia an ideal place for immigrants. These qualities are: a strong economy, good quality of life, stable government, telecommunications and information systems and infrastructure, and a highly skilled workforce. First of all, the economy. The unemployment rate is currently only 5%, according to statistics in May 2009. Compared to the 22% in South Africa, 9% in France and China, and the 8% in the US and Canada, this is great news for migrants. Australia's economy is also so stable that it was selected as the number one place to live on the 2008 Country Brand Index. This helps most migrants feel secure about moving to Australia. Surprisingly though, not only the economy is ranked number one but the quality of life was ranked number one in Melbourne city. The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Melbourne as the number one most liveable city in the world. This is also good news to migrants and even refugees who are trying to escape to a better living place. Next is government stability. According to "Why Australia", "The Australian political environment is ranked as one of the most stable in the world, ranked behind Finland and Luxemburg, and first in the region." So far, Australia has continuously been ranked as one of the best regions for economy, quality of life, and a stable government. Just these three factors are more than enough to reassure most migrants on where to move to. Not only is the political environment stable though, but Australia's competition laws are also ranked as second best in the world. This is a perfect example of a nice and stable political environment. Now, the fourth factor: telecommunications and information systems and infrastructure. "Australia's telecommunications and IT market has become one of the biggest in Asia and tenth largest in the world." ("Why Australia") This creates a great economy, as the market is doing well and booming in Australia. Finally, the last factor is a highly skilled workforce. Australia is again ranked in the top ten countries in the world for availability of skilled labour, IT professionals, finance skills, and qualified engineers. This creates many job opportunities for migrants who are seeking work in foreign countries. Just these five factors should be enough to bring in a constant flow of migrants.
Now that we've talked about the pull factors, what are the pull factors? In other words, what caused the migrants to leave their original home? Most people leave their homes looking for opportunities to enhance their quality of life. If their homeland has economic problems or bad living conditions, people will want to leave in order to look for anything better. This explains most of the push factors for refugees who are possibly seeking areas where wars aren't being fought, to escape to a better place. However, most migrants seem to be moving due to work. Cheap labour has become popular, since the workers work for less money. This is good for companies, but not good for the original inhabitants of the nation. Most people leave for countries that have a lot of job opportunities, such as Australia. If they can secure a steady job, then they can definitely improve their quality of life, and secure their own economic struggles. Therefore, although all factors listed above are important, the most important push factor seems to be work.
Statistics of Australia
Settler arrival figures
Settler arrivals by region of birth between July 2008 and June 2009
Major source countries
July 2008 to June 2009 settler arrivals, by country of birth
By way of comparison: Settler arrivals by region of birth for 1998-99
Works Cited:
"Australian Immigration Fact Sheet 2. Key Facts in Immigration." Department of Immigration & Citizenship. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009. <http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/02key.htm#e>.
"Immigration to Australia | Why Australia | Australia, World, Ranked, Quality, Most." Immigration to Australia | Australian VIsa, Visa To Australia, Migrate To Australia | Advice, Assessment, Visa, Written, Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2009. <http://www.myaustralianvisa.com/General/Australia/Why-Australia-2.php>.
Martin, Philip. "Managing Labor Migration in Southeast Asia." Managing Labor Migration in Southeast Asia. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2009. <www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/bangkok/download/yr2006/martin_migration.pdf>.
by
Ashley Kim and Jae Lee
Blog: http://worldgeoakjl.blogspot.com